How to connect to your janeCloud with OpenSSH on Linux or macOS

Linux users

Whether you’re on a MacOS or Linux operating system, you will need to open an SSH terminal.

In linux systems like Ubuntu, this can usually be done by pressing:

Ctrl + alt + t or searching “terminal”.

Here are some basic definitions it’s good to know:

Console – This means your entire system including display monitor, input device (like keyboard and mouse) and the command line terminal that will talk to the server.

Command line shell (or command line interface or terminal) – This is the text interface where you type commands to control what actions your remote server at HostJane performs. It’s is the software program we use to connect to the remote server at HostJane. It’s also called a terminal emulator because it copies the functions of the old-school classic computer terminal inside your modern Mac or Linux desktop.

Prompt – At the beginning of the command line, you will see information about your user status, which folder in the operating system’s directory you are currently located, ending with a $

For example: [ janedoe@123.456.789.1: ~janedoe $ ]

This entire line makes up the prompt

Bash – This stands for Bourne Again shell, it’s the standard shell or terminal that ships with every MacOS device and is found on most linux systems.

Mac users

In Apple MacOS machines, open Applications in Finder or LaunchPad, then go to the folder Utilities where the terminal icon can be found.

Go to Utilities and select Terminal

If you still can’t find it, try doing a search on your MacOS for “terminal”

How to login into the server

Once the terminal is open, use the SSH command to login to your server:

ssh user@[Your_Server's_IP]

Replace [Your_Server’s_IP] with your actual server IP, and we usually use the root user when logging in for the first time

ssh root@[Your_Server's_IP]

See the second line in this sample

If you already have set up your SSH keys and they are present on your Mac device, use the -i command and type the full pathway to where the key is present:

ssh -i /path/to/private/key username@203.0.113.0

The terminal should return:

The authenticity of host '203.0.113.0 (203.0.113.0)' can't be established.
ECDSA key fingerprint is SHA256:[Unique_Fingerprint].

You’ll be asked to confirm you want to proceed, type yes

Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes

The host fingerprint will be saved to your local device:

Warning: Permanently added '123.456.789.1' (ECDSA) to the list of known hosts.

If you’re using SSH keys, you will be logged in if with no further prompts.

Otherwise, you’ll be prompted to enter your root password:

root@123.456.789.1's password:

Either manually type enter your password and press Enter or copy and paste the password using:

On Ubuntu: Ctrl + shift + v

On MacOS: Shift + command + v

You should now be logged into your server through the SSH terminal.

How to remove the warning message

Quite commonly the following ugly-looking warning can show if a host SSH key is not removed properly from your local device. This happens when you are connecting to a new janeCloud server with the old key still on your local device operating system:

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@ WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED! @
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
IT IS POSSIBLE THAT SOMEONE IS DOING SOMETHING NASTY!
Someone could be eavesdropping on you right now (man-in-the-middle attack)!
It is also possible that the RSA host key has just been changed.

To resolve this, flush the old key by typing:

ssh-keygen -R [Your_Server's_IP]

Then log back into the server with the root user and new SSH key details.